Which Way I Went
by Spark My Interest
Summary: Sakura was sent from her family at the Higure Shrine to America 10 years ago. Now that she's been forced to come back she finds out what Kagome's been up to and what her leaving was really about
1. Birthday Suprise

Yeah so…… I guess I'm gonna try this out. Let's see how this baby turns out. I don't own inuyasha, though I wish I did cuz I'd be rich! Lol anyways the only character I own out of this whole story is Sakura (how original huh?) Tori and Mel, other than that unless I say, the others belong to Rumiko Takahashi

You know those eerie feelings you get whenever you know something's going on yet you weren't included in the circle? That pit of your stomach that tightens and your body feels prepared for the worst, or the best thing to happen to you. Well oddly enough it happened when my friends had blind folded me and dragged me on a plane on the day of my birthday. All my body could recognize was the vibrations of the engines pulse through the seats of American airlines and the voice of a little kid talking about traveling on an airplane for the first time. This was the first dead give away.

"Alright guys. Where are we goin?"

The giggles of my two friends, Tori and Mel, where all I needed to know that I wasn't going to be given an answer anytime soon. I was a little nervous about where I was going when the plane took off, because I knew full well that I didn't have money to be anywhere else in the country. Or out of the country. But I trusted Tori and Mel, they knew what they were doing, they knew my situations, and they've never given me a reason to doubt their decisions. So I guess all I could do was relax and enjoy the plane ride.

I thought about life sitting there as the passengers around me chatted away about businesses and families, jobs and social standings. I mean how can one not think about life when she's seeing nothing but black and hears only about the other problems or situations people have in life. The torment of their job or the happiness their spouse brings them or that divorce file that cost them millions and they were only left with the mortgage payment on the house. It makes you think of your own and how you so much want to show the people who talk to you that you really don't need their advice. You're smart enough to know which path to take. Being only two years away from graduation though, 16 and full of life and joy, it's scary to think that it's so close till I have to make the decision.

So deep in thought I didn't even know I had fallen asleep. I was woken up by the jolt the plane creates when the tires hit the pavement of the landing strip. Sadly enough when I opened my eyes I still saw black.

"Damn"

"haha what were you expecting? That this was all a dream?"

Tori's flowery sweet voice was like surround sound, you couldn't really ever tell where she was because her voice seem to come from every direction. So when I tried to make a guess at where she was by reaching out my hand only came in contact with cushion. Another giggle was let out, this time it was Mel, low, smooth and mellow.

"Well when one turns 16 and she's kidnapped by her friends she's usually taken for a ride in a CAR. Airplanes aren't really a common thing so yeah, I guess I was kinda hopin' for me to wake up in the back seat of a Mercedes or somethin."

One of them helped me out of my seat and down the isle. Out in the lobby, or what I was guessing to be the lobby of the airport, there was a blast of voices and music. Where ever I was it sure was lively. But that feeling in the pit of my stomach, my nervous feeling, was coming back to me because as I listened closely to the voices and trying to pick up the conversations people where having to get a good idea of where I was, it didn't sound like English. Somehow though it sounded familiar.  
Tori and Mel had a good hold on me as they seemingly rushed me through the crowds. Suddenly a rush of wonderful smells filled my nose and I felt at ease. I'm sure if they were taking me anywhere bad it would smell this good. The warmth from the sun on my skin was a sensation I rarely got to feel. I had always spent my days either in school or working at the restaurant I was lucky to get hired at. And considering I'm paler than usual I'm pretty sure the sun was good for my skin as well. It was just the blonde dye that was newly put into my hair just last week I was worried about. I wanted to stay a blonde, not a snow princess.

"Take us to this address please"

I cocked my head at the sudden sound of Mel's voice. I really don't know why but I was trying to look around to see things with the realization a second later that I was still blindfolded. Yes, I felt like an idiot. There was an awkward silence that made me feel a little uncomfortable and Tori's laugh of realization showed that I wasn't the only one feeling this way.

"Don't worry sir. We're not kidnapping her. It's her birthday and we're surprising her with a great present! And it's at that address."

"Tori I'm pretty sure he figured that one out. I mean we wouldn't be goin anywhere else if we gave him that address."

"Well Mel I was just making sure he knew we WERE goin to that place"

Mel let out a sigh and told the guy they were talking to, whom I'm guess was a cab driver or something, that we were on a tight schedule and we should get moving. Now the 2nd give away, which happened to be the last, happened when the man spoke. He only spoke a couple words but it was so clear, so recognizable it was ridiculous. He said, "let's go then" except it was in Japanese. I knew instantly where I was and what I was doing here, or more like what I was going to do.

"Tori… Mel"

I tried to speak but my mouth was covered quickly and I was hushed by my two girls, which meant they knew I figured out where I was going.

See I used to live in Japan. With a family who, well had too much to handle. They were my family yes but me leaving to America to live with some distant relative whom I had never met nor known was even part of my family was the best thing I could do for them. Or at least that's what my dad said. That was back when I was only 6 since then I hadn't seen them for 10 years and our only communication was through letters and phone calls, which eventually died over the years. And they were the surprise Tori and Mel were giving me, even though they knew I didn't like them very well. What a birthday THIS was going to be.

The path to the Higure Shrine was all too familiar. With a turn here and a stop light there and another turn here it felt like it was only yesterday I was still living in Japan. And it didn't take that long to get from the airport to the shrine, I still remember how even as a little kid it wasn't short. The only thing that seemed to be endless was my mother's crying.

The car stopped and I was led out of the car slowly. Even though the sun was shining my skin had this cold aura and I felt like this was one of those obstacles I was thinking about earlier on the plane. It was something I would have to face head on.

"Alright now the first step is right here. Just keep stepping till we say to stop and you should be fine. Tori and I will be right here."

"With your help I could be walking into the lions den."

Mels voice was uneasy, like she wasn't so sure that she had the situation under control but she laughed to try and cover up her uneasiness. Didn't work so well. One step after the other brought me closer to something I didn't want to experience for the rest of my life, memories. One step after the other brought me closer to something that would change my life.

After climbing steps that seemed forever I reached the top with that step where you think it's there but it's not so you look and feel like an idiot trying to step on an imaginary step. Well I did that and I tripped, grasping my friends arms and apparently they weren't ready for something like that to happen. Soon we were all in a pile on the ground with me on the bottom. My blindfold came off and I was staring a gray stone. The sun was bright even from where I was, on the ground, and to me it seemed like it was purposefully trying to blind me. Trying to figure who was where and how to get up we didn't realize that someone was right in front of us. But even without looking at her I knew who she was when she spoke.

"Can I help you girls?"

My body froze. I couldn't move. I didn't want to. So I looked up as far as my head could but I could only see the shadowy figure of a woman with the sun behind her, imitating a halo above her head. Pulling myself I stood up to face my mother, looking into her hazel eyes as the shock of my presence was visible on her face. She let out a gasp and put her hand on her mouth to cover her surprise. We said nothing, just stared. Then I saw movement behind her, a little boy and a girl who looked the same age as me. Kagome. My sister. I was home once again. But it still didn't feel like it.

Yeah so there's numero uno! Wow….. I actually stayed up to finish it even if it didn't make sense. It was bugging me! IT WOULDN'T LEAVE ME ALONE! Lol so please review and don't burn me too much please. I'm no expert so you can't say that I said I was.


	2. Starting Off Differently

**Disclaimer: **Thanks to Sqeekers for the encouragement for my story. So we get another chappie! YAY! So I still don't own inuyasha, just my character Sakura and any others that don't sound like they belong to the oh great person who is the Inuyasha creator.

Key 

/me interrupting to say something seemingly important/

---------- scene change

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Being in this house again gave me an awkward feeling. I didn't know whether to feel like a resident in the house or a guest. I looked around at the pictures of our family. There was one with mom and Kagome when she was little, a winter picture of Kagome and little Souta, one of grandpa and then one with the whole family, including the cat. I smiled at the goofy poses of mom and Kagome. They seemed to be doing fine, a picture can say a thousand words. Whether they're lies or the truth is the hard part to determine.

I continued down the hall examining the little trinkets and items that decorated the walls. One picture though caught my eye immediately. It was a picture of my dad and me, smiling, holding up a freshly caught fish. I stared at it wondering why mom had it out. Why dad had let her keep it out. My head was full of thoughts that haunted me in everyday since I went to America. I just had to pick one that fit with the picture.

"Well Sakura this is all too emotional for us soooooooo…. We'll see you in two weeks!"

I snapped back into reality when Tori and Mel ganged up on me with goodbye hugs and dashed for the door. I made a dash for them too

wondering what the hell they were doing leaving me here.

"You guys drag me all the way over here to leave me in the company of silence? And then you leave? What are you guys thinking?"

"Sakura this will be good for you. You need to see you're family again and it's only two weeks. Nothing wrong with that you'll live I promise"

Mel cupped my head in her hands and looked at me straight in the eyes.

"It's only two weeks. Say it, it's only two weeks"

I looked at her with the urge to jump on her back and pound on her head.

"It's…only two weeks"

"Good. Now move we have a plane to catch."

They both smiled and said goodbye to my mother and me. I watched from the top of the stairs as the taxi drove away. This couldn't be happening. It was a dream. I would wake up in my cousin's apartment to find that she had a party that night and empty beers bottles would be scattered in the living room. I would get ready for school, make myself something to eat, and be out the door into my car in no time. I just needed to wake up.

Sad thing was I never did, either that or this was a really long nightmare.

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The food was delicious. I'd forgotten how great a cook my mother was. I had one heaping full plate and seconds still had room. After I was full I fell on my back and let out a great sigh. My mother laughed at my satisfaction, that soft gentle laugh she used to do whenever I did something funny and cute at the same time, like going cross-eyed when a butterfly lands on your nose. As I sat up I looked around to see what else I hadn't tried.

"My Sakura you make it seem like they never fed you over in America."

"Not like this!"

She smiled and I felt something I hadn't in awhile. I felt like everything could be normal and pleasant. Like it WAS good. But in my effort to search for other unknown treats to devour my eyes came across Kagome.

She had been silent almost the whole time I had been here. Her only words I heard were "hi" and "pass the peas please". She gave me that feeling like I wasn't really supposed to be here. I could tell, just by her staring off into space or more like her plate, I was still the black sheep in her eyes. I stared at her, watched her touch nothing on her plate but a single pea, which she was rolling around with her chopstick. I examined my sister. I saw her as someone whom I haven't seen for 10 years, someone who hadn't written, hadn't called, and yet I saw no change in her. I knew her black hair though it had gotten longer, her perfect skin though it was a little darker, her eyes. Her eyes. What was so alive and perfected with youth now had circles underneath and looked weary. Like one who fights a war that never seems to end.

"Kagome," My mother's words jerked the both of us out of our daze. "You haven't touched your food. Is something the matter?"

Kagome didn't reply. At least not with words. She merely shook her head, got up, and excused herself from the table. The uncomfortable silence that followed once she left the room was unbearable. So, me being to talkative, I talked more about America and all it's wonders. While at the same time my mind trying to follow Kagomes method for hating me when it was our father who sent me away.

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When night came around I was assigned to Kagomes room to sleep. A cute room, nicely decorated, organized. To one side of the wall was her bed all nicely made and across on the other wall was her desk, covered with open txt books and papers and eraser shavings sprinkled all over. The text was not strange to me even though I practically grew up in America. Like a song on a radio you haven't heard it in awhile though when you hear it the words come to you fresh. I read the equations and understood most of them. In fact I found myself trying to solve one when Kagome stepped in. I looked up at her, expecting her to say something but nothing came our. So I spoke for her.

"Nice room."

What a conversation starter huh? The silence was deafening as she stood there looking at me with expectation, like I was supposed to say something. But I really had no clue what else to babble on about that would stop her from looking at me that way.

"You can get ready in the bathroom if you want. For the shower you just pull and turn the knob and the towels are in the cabinet beside the sink."

I nodded and walked past her. The bathroom wasn't very hard to miss considering it smelled of honeydew and wild flower, a strange combination but was appealing to the nose. I flipped the light switch and was welcomed by a yellow room, not too bright but was still an odd color. I looked at the shower and decided I would take one in the morning. Going to bed with wet hair on someone else's bed wouldn't be something I would want myself. I did make it a mission to wash my face before bed though. I looked around for something that wouldn't burn my skin and found a face wash exactly like mine with Kagome written across the front. Interesting. I washed up in no time and took a good look at myself in the mirror.

There was nothing that could convince me that I was my mother's daughter. Nothing. I looked so much different from her. Aside from the newly added blond covering my shoulder height hair I had a big pair of luscious green eyes. Yeah I know how conceded that sounded but even I was amazed by how green they were. They weren't just light green or forest green, they were emerald green. And they stared back at me every time I looked in a mirror, always a stunning look against my pale complexion. As beautiful as they were, I tried to hide them. They were what made dad mad. When I was little, he would pace the room saying, "She's still young. The color will change when she's older" or "My family has never had green eyes, so they must come from your side." But even then I knew they didn't.

Dad. Where was he? I left the bathroom once my face was dry back to Kagome's. She was sitting in her desk reading the text book and writing what I assumed was notes. It was a shame I had to bother her with a question.

"Hey um, when's,…. When's dad coming home?" Such a forward question.

At first she didn't answer and for a minute I thought she didn't hear me or she was ignoring me. Getting ready to ask again she finally answered.

"He isn't."

I stood silent knowing perfectly well what she meant

"When did he leave?"

"A month after you left. Couldn't stand to be in this house."

Her not looking up at me when she answered was a sign that she would say nothing more if I pressed on. Fair enough though. I haven't been here long enough to become part of the family again. Not like I ever was. I decided the best thing to do was to leave the subject alone and go to sleep. Sleep was always good. Always made things go away if only for a while. Sleep right now would be my friend.

But alas, sleep did not stay. It never stayed for the next three days. Dreams of love, torment and life haunted my every second of sleep. Sometimes they would be of a mother dressed in a white kimono with gold thread and jade charms sewn into the cloth. Others would be of war and a household falling to bits, assassination. But the one that would visit me the most wasn't really of pain or family, it was full of questions. It would start out with a garden full of peach trees and Sakura trees in full blossom. River with a small man made waterfall off to the side of a stonewall. Off to the side was a small red house with skillfully carved wooden windows. The roof was Chinese style with gold lining and dragon statues to guard the four entrances around it, but the inscriptions carved all around the structure were in Japanese, spells casting away the enemies and demons of the "Jade Empire". I could walk through the whole garden to marvel at the magnificent stone figures of warriors and spirits that lay dormant within the many plants but my body moved onward to look within the small building. It seems I would go in but I stop short of the river and only peek in at two figures running around the inside. They're little. I assume every time they're children though I never really know.

Inside is lit with candles hanging in disks above them and the figure of a little girl is the first one to be lit up, though I only see her back, her pink kimono covered with blossoms and koi fish. The other one however is perfectly visible a second later. They stop and he takes her in his arms and holds her like a doll and she doesn't protest or fight back. What really gets to me is how this boy looks. His eyes, staring at me like he sees me, are hazel, and he has red marks along his cheeks, two on each side. His hair is long and silver and he has a half moon on his forehead. As he stares at me his hand raises as if to reach out to me but I wake up before I know what happens. And always I wake up with questions.

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I woke up that Saturday to find I was the only one to occupy Kagome's room. Seeing as how Kagome got up I thought I should get up too. As I moved my legs so they were hanging over the edge of the bed I heard some voices coming from the kitchen, apparently trying to whisper but failing miserably. I slowly got out of my bed and crept over the hall and listened in. It was Kagome and mother.

"I'm not taking her she doesn't know what's going on. I don't know if she's even gonna stay calm when she sees all the demons around her."

"Kagome you must she's your sister. She deserves to see what life her sister has been leading. Come one it would be a good thing. You two would have some time to bond."

"The only thing I'll be doing is saving her all the damn time. I'm not taking her. I'd be too busy anyways."

Mother's sigh was a sign she had lost the battle. My interests were up and my senses for adventure were tingling inside of me so much I wanted to move and interrogate where she was supposed to take me but I didn't budge.

"I'll be leaving in 20. I'll go ahead to the store and buy some snacks Sango, Inuyasha, Shippo and Miroku have been bugging me for and when I get back I'll head to the well."

"Alright"

When I heard footsteps I rushed back to my room and jumped in bed, pretending to still be asleep. I could hear someone come into the room and try to sneak by me over to the desk. I opened my eyes a peek and saw Kagome stuffing books and pencils into her giant yellow bag. Man it was a huge bag. I wanted to call her Mary Poppins and shove a lamp in there to see if it would swallow it. After packing what seemed a library she left and I quickly got up to get dressed. I was almost to the front door when mother caught me with a good morning.

"Would you like some breakfast dear?

It sounded temping but that thirst for adventure in my system needed to be satisfied first. I politely denied the offer and went outside. For being here for one week I never really walked around the shrine. Sure I went to run errands around the city but I never went around the actual shrine. I scanned my sights for what seemed interesting to explore but nothing really caught my eye. There was the storage house and the giant tree surrounded by a rope and some paper. There was a small garden and a little fountain. But nothing stuck with me, except one thing, a small house off to the side. I walked over to examine the decaying wooden house and feeling the rough texture of the small designs carved into it I accidentally pushed the door. Darkness. I saw nothing but it and to me, this place seemed like nothing new. It seemed all too familiar. I strained my eyes to adjust to the dark but only got as far as the stairs descending down. I walked forward a bit only to hear Kagomes voice calling out to mother. I ran inside and off to a corner in the shadows. Hoping she wouldn't see me. Her body tan past me like a bunny on caffeine and jumped down into what I could now make as a well, a purple light rising from it after she descended down. I walked over to look at it, hypnotized by it all. That's when I could hear it. I don't know what "it" was but I could hear it. It was calling my name. The light was pulling me in. I know it was. Before I knew it was falling face forward through a chamber of purple and black, stars twinkling as bright as diamonds. My body was light and my hair felt like velvet. It was a sensation through my body that I never wanted to end but I soon saw ground again and hit it pretty hard. What replaced light and velvet was now dirt and rocks.

"Whew," I said as I sat there, the feeling of embarrassment sinking in with each breath I took and exhaled to blow out the dirt, "Enough excitement for me."

I got up wondering how I was ever going to get out of this one. That's when I saw vines. Hey, an idiot could've seen those and thought escape. I just wasn't one of them. I thought gardening THEN escape. I climbed them all the way to the top and out of the well. When I fell out though I fell on something I really wasn't expecting to hit. Grass.

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Yay numero dos! Please review and Thanks again Sqeekers for encouraging me to go on. Please review. I would like to know what your thoughts are.


	3. Words That Woke

YEAH!! Encouragement rocks! Thank you very much for the encouragement to go on and now here is another chapter. Again, I don't own inuyasha just my character and the parts of the story that revolve around her. Enjoy!

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No. It couldn't have been. But my fingers, my sense, and half of my brain told me "yes Sakura, this IS grass." I sat there looking around but the sudden rush of light to my eyes made it hard to see. I closed my eyes, waiting for them to adjust a bit, then opened them again. Trees. Grass, trees, where was the wooden house and the darkness that was enclosed in it. Had I been knocked out and unconscious for a while? Everything wasn't making sense and the more my body used my senses, the smell of flowers, the feel of a cool breeze, the sight of unbelievable greenery, the sound birds chirping, the more it sunk in that this wasn't the place I had been before. I was almost tempted to lick the grass to make sure I wasn't in like some secret underground Willy Wanka factory.

"Alright Sakura now let's just calm down and think."

Talking and thinking was just not working for me at this moment. I stood up and tried to gather as much obvious info as I could so that somewhere in my mind something would click and say "HEY!! Duh wasn't that obvious?" Sadly, there was still no clicking.

"Maybe if I just wait here by this well for someone to come my way they can tell me where I am. Yeah that's what I'll do."

I turned around to sit on the well when the most unusual thing had landed in front of me. Now I'm sure it's not everyday scenes like this happen but it must've been my lucky day. For a giant severed claw, blood and everything, landed right in front of me. Yup. And on top of that, crashing through the forest came a giant lizard of some sort, roaring it's head off for the loss of it's arm. Now you tell me what's a girl to do when a giant one armed lizard comes rampaging through the forest, stops and stares at you then is attacked by some red blur carrying a giant sword, a girl riding a giant cat, and a monk of some sort running after it throwing who knows what at it. Me? I did absolutely nothing but stare into empty space where they had passed by, mouth wide open, eyes as big as saucers. I bet you the line in my mind went flat.

"Sakura?!"

I turned to see what other surprise my life had in store for me. There, trying to catch her breath, covered in dirt and what I imagine was blood, was Kagome. A bow in one hand an arrow in the other. We looked at each other as though we were just meeting for the first time when suddenly crashing through the trees came the monster again, though thankfully it wasn't alive. It lay there, blooding oozing and steam coming for the limbs of where it's arms used to be. In a way, I would say this was rather odd don't ya think? But no, I had one last surprise encounter. With one blink I opened my eyes to be staring face to face with a boy, bout my age, taller than me, white hair and, lord behold, dog ears. He was putting his sword away when I turned around was about to dive head first back into the well.

"Whoa slow down there. You don't just go head first into a well"

Kagome had grasped the back of my shirt and wasn't planning to let go anytime soon. With her tone of voice I felt like maybe, just maybe, she wanted to kidnap me and hold for ransom now that I found her version of Dungeons and Dragons. Yes, secretly my sister was a nerd and now that I found her magical world I was to be executed so I wouldn't reveal their secret lair.

"Ok… whatever this place is I didn't see it ok. I've had enough excitement for one day and I need to get home to get this blood stain, which by the way I'm hoping is just strawberry jam or something, off my shirt. I promise I won't tell mom."

I could feel eyes from everyone staring at me as I tried to make a failed attempt to reach for the well.

"Don't worry she's like this all the time. Listen Sakura it's ok. Mom knows about this place too."

She had let me go and I fell to the grass. Still, I had the urge, the need to hold onto the well. You know, just in case.

I turned around to face these new and strange people and found them to look like any other normal human, though the one with the dog ears was still creeping me out it was nothing new to me. I half expected him to be wearing chains and some tight leather pants. Dunno why he just seemed to have that aura about him…. Yes…. Leather pants.

"Ok" I stuttered, "I'll try to remain calm and ask simple, easy questions that hopefully won't lead you into speaking about the world in riddles. Because right now my brain can't handle that…. But first, can we go somewhere else? This giant… bleeding… thing is starting to smell."

They nodded and helped me up from my safety spot on the ground. Walking through the trees and forest we came upon a small quiet village, Full of farmlands and a small uphill shrine. Walking past some of the small gardens and fields I felt a little calmer about being here, though I still was hoping that this was some sort of weird Japanese version Amish town.

I was brought into a small hut that stood before the arch of the shrine and was welcome by a nice bowl of hot soup. Home made. Yum. After eating for a bit and calming my nerves down I began to feel sort curious about my new surroundings.

"Ok. First off, where am I?"

"Well," Kagome set her bowl down and looked at it very seriously, like it had done something wrong. "How to explain this… um… well… You see."

"Oh damnit just cut to the chase!" The dog eared one snapped at her. Not a good idea.

"Don't talk to me like that Inuyasha! You try explaining that your in the past so it doesn't confuse someone!"

"Well I will then! Your in a time that was a long time ago and…. Yeah. See! I did it! Simple"

He took a sip of his soup, looking very pleased with himself. But Kagome wasn't finished with him yet. She closed her eyes and calmly said the word sit. Right then and there he fell to the floor hard and was moaning in pain. My eyes widened once more.

"Ok this is really starting to freak me out."

"Well if you think that's creepy," Kagome opened her eyes to me. "You should see the rest of this place. This time era is the Feudal Era. The time of war and power and demons."

"So wait. This is Japan way back when?"

Kagome nodded her head. I looked into my soup bowl, not really knowing why I stared at it, wanting answers from the almighty soup. Kagome could sense my confusion.

"Look I don't fully understand why the well is connected so much. I even hated it when Grandpa was right about it having powerful aura around it because he would go on and on about it. But you don't have to stay here. You can just as easily go back home as you came and you never have to come back."

"Well obviously you come back Kagome. Why do you stay here?"

"My business is my own"

I was getting pretty tired of her snobby attitude and secrecy and solitude away from me. I was being as nice to her as I could but even as a child she treated me as a…. well child.

"Listen miss powder princess, I know you don't like me around you and you're not happy with the fact I came back, neither am I, but you still are my sister and if we are to make peace at out house with mother I will get to know you more. And all this secrecy BS is starting to get on my last nerves. So I'm going stay here and get some answers out of you. Starting with why you're here."

Kagome looked at me with such eyes that would scare a baby. I could tell I did now score any good points with her but if I was to live with her for another week I would need to know who this person was that was sleeping in the same room as me.

"Fine! Since your so persistent and I'm just anxious to get you out of the one place I don't have to deal with you I will tell you why I'm here."

And so she did. It was a very long story, full of gruesome details which I'm sure she added them in just to bug me, and the beatings she's gone through. I learned a little about the Shikon Jewel, which sounded so familiar to me, and the people she travels with. The Monk Miroku, Inuyasha, the demon slayer Sango and her little cat companion Kilala and a fox boy Shippo. Her tales seemed to go on endlessly and I actually wanted to hear more but I saw that it was getting dark outside.

"Mothers going to wonder-"

"That time goes faster here than in our time. Right now it seems like a whole day but really it's only a few minutes on our side. Besides if anything mother will probably think I took you with me or something"

I found the hint of attitude in her voice but I choose to ignore it. I was offered to stay the night here since it was too dangerous to walk to the well at night so I decided to take advantage of the time given to me by getting to know Kagome's friends. I talked with the one's who were still awake, Miroku and Sango, found Kagome to be quite the pain in the butt even here. But here amazing battle abilities and her power with her arrows made her into a whole knew person, not that I know any part of Kagome. And I also learned her ever growing affection for Inuyasha. And hey, being me and still in high school what's any girl to do when she finds out that someone likes another person. Investigate.

I found Inuyasha sitting in the hut by himself. His eyes were closed as I slowly snuck in so as not to disturb what ever he was doing. I sat next to him and began throwing bits of the mat into the fire.

"Ya know you'll catch the whole house on fire if you built the fire any higher."

His voice was startling. For some reason I had imagined it to be… deeper.

"Oh haha… right"

You know that painfully awkward silence that takes place when you have an elementary school dance and no one has been through that whole "hey let's dance with girls" or vice versa? Where each person still thinks the other has cooties so they seem to be magnetically bound to the wall or finds the need to hold up the wall so it doesn't fall. Then there's that moment where the music's going and the little lights are flashing and the teachers realize they've just spent money so they can have an empty dance floor with music from the 80's. That was happening right before my eyes and I could not for the life of me think of ways to spark a conversation with a guy who has very little words and when he does speak it seems to only be to put down people. So I made it plain and painfully simple.

"So what you think of my sister?"

He looked at me with one eye and stared at me. I could sworn I saw the words "You're dumb" scroll across his eyes. It was truly amazing.

"She's a pain. Kinda like you."

"Hey I'm a pain because I choose to be. She's a pain naturally. There's a difference"

He grunted and I sighed. Obviously this conversation wasn't going into anymore than six words for his part so I dropped it. But I found his Kimono, or what ever his outfit may be, to be so interesting. From a distance it looks to be made out of cotton but as I looked closer it was something else. I placed one hand on the sleeve of his shirt to get a feel of the fabric. But it was a mistake. He freaked as though I had turned into that giant lizard thing and jumped away from me, hand on the handle of his sword.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"I'm sorry! I just wanted to get a feel of your clothes. That isn't normal fabric."

He eased up on his defensive mode and sat down next to me.

"You're right it's not. It's a special fabric made to survive through the harshest of weather and fire. It's kinda like my main armor."

I began to feel the fabric again, this time making sure I didn't touch him at all, and I became so entranced by how different it was from our normal world cloths I didn't even notice Kagome standing in the of the house. We both looked up and her. Arms crossed, eyes glaring at me she turned on her heels and left the house in a huff. Inuyasha called after her and followed her outside. It was shortly followed by "SIT BOY" and a loud thud and I found that the signal to get some sleep. I thought the rest of the night was for me to be alone but I was soon accompanied by Sango. She smiled at me and told me not to worry about Kagome and Inuyasha.

"She's always like that with him. Jealous at the drop of a pin. Course Inuyasha has a conscience, most of the time, and trails after her to apologize so he doesn't feel bad and, well, you know the result."

"Haha. Well I didn't mean to cause him more trouble."

Sango stirred the fire so the wood burned evenly. The flames lighting up her face to reveal scars to fair to see right off. But I'm a natural knack to see those little details. I saw anger and pain in her eyes but a spirit that couldn't be broken. And for a moment I felt like I was staring into her very soul. A new feeling came over me and I suddenly saw my world fade away into darkness, except that Sango was there, still stirring the fire. Then there was a little boy walking up from behind her. About 12, very cheery, wearing a sort of armor with green lining. He was smiling, laughing. Then he stared at her.

"By the way"

The darkness faded and I was back in the hut. I felt so strange and the sensations in my body were new and unfamiliar, almost painful to have. I clutched my chest to ease the pain a bit but made it seem natural so as not to alarm Sango.

"Why do you and Kagome keep your distance from each other?"

I looked at her. "I dunno. I haven't been around in a while. I wouldn't imagine her to warm up to me since I've been gone most of her life."

"But even so," She looked at me with, her eyes wanting to explore my mind. "Sisters don't stay away from each other when they've been gone so long. They come together to learn what's been going on."

I looked at her, knowing she was right. "She hasn't liked me since we were kids. I wouldn't expect her to like me now."

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I woke up in the morning to find Sango gone. Not surprised. She was a warrior, they don't sleep in late. I straightened myself up and stepped outside to find an old woman, who was waiting for me.

"Kagome's waiting for you up at the well. Just follow that path straight and you'll be there."

I met Kagome there waiting impatiently for me. No really her foot was tapping. Without a word she grabbed my wrist and pulled me down into the well. I went through the purple star sky again and was greeted by dirt once more. We climbed out of the well and was walking out when she turned around and stared me straight in my eyes.

"You just couldn't stay in America now could you?"

I was shocked by her sudden approach I didn't know what to say. I Just stared into her brown eyes, flames and hate signs dancing around.

"You just had to come back and start messing up everything again!"

"Now wait a minute first off I didn't just wake up one morning and decide to come back. If you can't recall I was brought her blind folded! Second what you do you mean mess everything up again? I wasn't hitting on your dog boyfriend in the hut if that's what you're mad about!"

"UH! You're so… so…"

"So what Kagome?! Just say it! I've handled your abuse when I was little I can do it again!"

"So much a home wrecker!"

I looked at her in both confusion and anger. There wasn't really any words to describe what was flowing through my blood.

"How can I be a home wrecker?! That boy doesn't even seem to have much to say so how can he be your boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend"

"Then how can you be accusing me of being a ho-"

"BECAUSE YOU MADE DAD LEAVE!!!!"

I stood there… wondering what exactly she meant. Dumbfounded by her anger and words I thought she was trying to pin the reason my father wasn't here on me. But it wasn't my fault…

"Wh… what do you mean?"

She calmed down a bit but her anger still took hold of her words. "You're the reason dad left after you went to America. You ruined everything by being here and dad went to ruins because he found out… you weren't his daughter."

"No… you're lying."

"Oh you think I'm lying?! Ask mother then! She came home with you a 5 months after I was born and father didn't know what to say. He didn't say anything for the longest time but she made up some story about how you were my twin and you had problems so you had to stay at the hospital. But dad looked. There was no record of you being there and he went ballistic."

I stared… stared at what? There was nothing I could look at without feeling like nothing was real. But I was so convinced she was lying I ran to mother and pounded her with questions. In tears, she confessed all. I felt my world shatter and suddenly, it was a blur. I saw nothing more except the darkness that over came me the night before. Emptiness. Solid black. And then there appeared a woman. I was lying down, the back of my head hurting and I couldn't move as she glided toward me in a blue silk Kimono. Beautiful. Her face so pure and her hair as white as snow she seemed so flawless. So strange. And yet, I felt as if I knew. Seen her a thousand times. She placed her hands on either side of my face and leaned in to kiss my forehead. She stared into my eyes and whispered:

"It's time, my dear Sakura, for Kikyani to wake up and for you to return to life."

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THE END!! Just kidding. There. Will work on the next one soon I promise. Please give me feed back. Thank you for reading.


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